


Mugged by Cupid

by dedougal



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-11-05
Updated: 2011-11-05
Packaged: 2017-10-25 17:35:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/272967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dedougal/pseuds/dedougal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The halcyon days of High School are all the fuel Chad needs to ensure he's going to get laid tonight. Hopefully.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mugged by Cupid

**Author's Note:**

> Beted by the marvellous majestic_shriek. All errors are my own. Written for the spn_cinema challenge and based on Much Ado About Nothing.

The party was hot hot hot. The music was loud, the clothing was minimal, the beer was flowing. It was like every party college films promised. And there were these girls, right? These girls, these chicks, these WOMEN, who seemed invulnerable. But The Chad knew better. The Chad knew that he has a magic bullet to pierce their armour. The Chad just had to get them to listen to his story. So that was where his best friends in the whole wide world making out in front of these girls came in handy. The Chad can slide right in while they are entranced by the beautiful sight of two people in love engaging in borderline porn right there.

“Did you know that the whole reason they’re in love is because of me? I was Cupid for them.”

The girls were hooked. The Chad is getting lucky tonight.

***

The start of school meant that their scattered social circle came back together to complain about homework, teachers and the endless drudgery of being high school students. Of course, this year was going to be slightly different. Senior year meant more freedom, more choice and, ultimately, more pressure.

As usual, Jared was lying out on the grass, in his long shorts and t-shirt, catching the last rays of summer. His friends joined him: Alona, pony tail bouncing; Sandy and Sophia, inseparable as ever; Genevieve, dark and spiky. They were settled, glumly awaiting the bell when Mike appeared, like a herald. “Hey! The others are on their way.”

Sandy raised her sunglasses to look at him. She was obviously excited but kept it contained. “And who, pray, are ‘the others’, Mike? Have we got ghosts or aliens coming to join us this school year?”

Mike sneered elegantly at her before slumping onto the ground next to Jared. “The dreaded lacrosse team is coming to join me, naturally, as I straddle the divide between our social classes, that of the jock and the drama nerd.”

“So, is the dickwad joining us this year?” Jared asked, finally seeming to wake up out of his near doze.

“Dickwad? I know no dickwad.” Mike grinned. “There’s Tom and Steve and Jensen, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Jared joined Sandy in the sneering, straightening up out of his sprawl. “I mean that most glorious of lacrosse players, the one whose ego only slightly eclipses the sun…” Jared put on a simpering, Southern Belle impression, one hand clutched delicately to his bosom as he thickened his vowels around the bitter words.

“When are you going to stop ragging on Jensen?” Alona asked, inspecting her nails. “The whole rivalry thing was fun as freshmen, but it’s totally dated now.”

Jared opened his mouth to respond, when a truck blasting music pulled up in the parking lot, making conversation impossible. From the car climbed four guys – the familiar trio of Tom, Steve and Jensen and another boy, with short dark spiky hair. He was shorter than Tom and Jensen but not by much. The others watched in interest as the music cut off and they came towards them. Mike stood up, exchanging complex hand signs and fist bumps.

“Hey!” Tom called, finished with his ritualised greeting. “How was summer?”

“Fine,” Genevieve answered. “Who’s your new friend?”

“This is Chris,” Tom said, dragging him forward. He waved, a little shyly.

Jared sat up, exchanging glances with Sandy, who shook her head at him. “I’m Jared.” He held out his hand and shook Chris’. “If you ever get sick of hanging with these jock losers, us drama kids are always available as a suitable substitute.”

Chris just shook his head and grinned. Then he looked around the group as if to say hi, let his eyes linger on Sandy for just a moment too long before blushing and stepping back behind Jensen. Jensen took this as an opportunity to glare at Jared.

“Hey, what you saying?” Jensen tried to look tough, but it was pretty clear it was just posturing.

“I was saying that if your new buddy wanted some intelligent conversation, he shouldn’t bother even looking in your general direction.” Jared arched an eyebrow, a move he’d spent quite some time perfecting in the mirror over the vacation.

Jensen laughed, a little shortly. “Like he’d find any intelligence in your massive hair. What did you do, Jared? Join a Cousin It appreciation society?”

Jared caught his hand before it automatically swept back the mane he was getting quite proud of. “At least people notice my hair. Which is more than I can say for your sorry attempt at styling. Pomade is a little Great Depression, no?”

Jensen’s fists seemed to curl of their own accord before Mike stepped in between them. He looked at Alona in panic. Alona shrugged. “It’s just them. I say we lock them in a cage and watch them fight it out.”

“Can we make them do it shirtless?” Sophia asked, a little too interested. “Maybe in jello?”

Jensen rolled his shoulders, stepped back and grabbed at Chris. “I’ll show you where the office is.”

And with that, another school year began.

 

****

“Tom’s Hallowe’en parties were the kind of parties that everyone looked forward to. They were legendary – no parents, lots of booze. Of course you had to come in costume. And that’s how the first bit of the plan was going to play out.” Chad looked around at the group of girls, pleased to note that it had grown a bit since he started. All the more fish to choose from.

“Step one was the Chris and Sandy plan. Chris’ crush on Sandy was approaching epic proportions, and Steve had decided to do something about it. Of course, he needed Sandy to be a little drunk to pull it off. That’s why they waited for the party…”

Chad let the coos and muttered explanations die down before he continued.

****

“I’m Batman,” Jensen said, to the mirror, lowering his voice and making it rough. The mask hid most of his face and he’d even let his sister help him put on eyeliner. It made his eyes greener, somehow, but other than that seemed to make him even more unrecognisable. He’d need to experiment a little more with eyeliner, perhaps.

The doorbell ringing made him jump, but he checked himself over once more before heading for the door. “I’m Batman,” he announced, to the waiting Chris and Steve.

They laughed at him. He locked the door and then followed Freddy Kruger and the Scream psycho killer to Steve’s truck. With their masks on, even he was hard pressed to tell them apart.

 

The party was in full swing when they got to the house. There were cars parked along the driveway and loud music spilled out from the constantly open door. Jensen grabbed the six-pack his brother had procured for him and grinned. He loved this party. All thoughts that this might be the last one were put out of his head as he followed the others into the house.

His friends were all there – some like Tom were obvious, as Superman, while others wore masks and make up and required a second glance, a subtle query, to discover their identity. The beer that Jensen ended up finishing more quickly than he intended and the many shots of some green sickly sweet liquor that he had thrust into his hand weren’t helping.

He watched as Steve, hidden behind his Scream mask went up to Sandy, who was sparkling as some kind of fairy. At least that’s what Jensen thought she was. She had wings and was wearing a lot of pastels.

A guy dressed as Frank the Rabbit from Donnie Darko sunk down on the sofa beside him. Jensen had to give the guy props for choosing something so cool, even if he had no idea who it was. He kept his voice down in the Batman register as he ground out, “I can’t believe Steve is doing this.”

“That’s not Chris?” The guy’s voice was muffled by the fixed mouth of his mask. His beer had a straw in it to fit through the gap.

“Chris is Freddy Kruger. But they’ve decided that Steve is going to persuade her to give him a chance.” Jensen let his head loll back against the cushions at his back. It was comfortable. Also, the guy smelled nice and was warm and firm along his side. It was nice. “I don’t know. It seems like some plot that Jared would come up with.”

“Jared?” the guy asked, the words sounding strangled through his mask.

“Yeah. The basketball player? He’s like all ‘look at me, I’m wonderful’ all the time. Makes everyone like him yet never likes them back.” Jensen was aware that he was probably ranting but he didn’t care. “He’s the ultimate catch, right, all muscles and hair and teeth. But he’s so arrogant. No one is good enough for him to notice.”

“Maybe he’s waiting for the right guy to show up,” Frank the Rabbit said, pushing Jensen back to upright.

“Yeah, right. I doubt Jared’s capable of love. Or even commitment.” Jensen started to drift. Definitely time to head home. Or to sleep. He’d go find one of the spare bedrooms but a) effort and b) they were probably already in use.

Frank the Rabbit abruptly stood up and Jensen ended up sliding to a lying position. He watched Sandy nodding, smiling, before Steve reached out and grabbed Chris and pulled off his mask. Sandy laughed, hands flying up to cover her mouth, before reaching out and taking Chris’ hand. Chris smiled, shy for a moment, before pointing outside with his free hand. Sandy nodded and went with him. Then Jensen let his eyes fall shut.

 

Jared had gotten rid of his rabbit mask when Sandy came to find him. Having to drink through a straw was definitely stopping him getting drunk enough. Although there probably was no drunk enough to deal with Jensen calling him a failure.

“Chris asked me out!” Sandy cried, expecting him to join in her sheer glee.

“Great,” Jared said, flatly. He swallowed another shot from the bottle in his hand. It burned.

Sandy poked him. “Who pissed in your cornflakes?”

“Jensen. Who else.” Jared slid down the wall and spread his legs out in front of him. “It’s his superpower. Ruining everything.” Jared took another drink.

Sandy patted the top of his head. Chris was being slapped on the back across the other side of the room. Jensen was, luckily, nowhere to be seen in that ridiculous Batman costume of his. That maybe made him look totally ripped. She headed back over to them, casting an eye back at the downcast Jared.

“Jared looks down,” Chris observed, as she came into the circle of his arm.

Sandy shook her head, a little grimly. “It’s the Jared versus Jensen feud again. This time he ended up with the rough side of Jensen’s tongue.”

“That pair should just fuck already,” Genevieve said.

At the very same moment, Tom butted in with, “And that’s not the side of Jensen’s tongue Jared really wants, I bet.”

A silence, potent and powerful, rose up in the middle of the circle. Steve was the one to break it. “Really, guys?”

Mike nodded slowly, eyes gleaming. “They should totally get together.”

Sandy tried to interrupt, protesting at the idea, but it was too late. Sophia nodded in agreement. Even Steve looked persuaded when Alona said, “What we have to do is get them to see that it isn’t hate but love that makes them argue like cat and dog.”

And so the plan was hatched.

****  
“It’s like – montage! Imagine us sticking gummy worms into Jared’s locker and mix CDs into Jensen’s. It was like secret ninja romance.” Chad was definitely starting to have the right effect. These chicks were coming closer and closer. “There was totally some kind of upbeat yet quirky indie anthem playing in the background.”

Chad made sure to have a dramatic pause, take a drink, make them want it, before continuing.

“Then we decided to take much more direct action…”

****

Jared thought he was hiding in the old baseball dugout, but the fact that his feet stuck out a mile meant they could see him lounging there, which meant the situation was perfect to put their plan into action. Genevieve had been the one to develop the scheme, of course. She was sneaky. And plotty.

Sandy was the first to speak. “Chris tells me he’s just moping all the time.”

Jared’s feet shot into the dugout. He could obviously hear the girls. The girls stifled giggles, sat down on the grass above the dugout and started to fulfil their roles.

“But Jensen isn’t like that. He’s, like, attack all the time,” Sophia said, rolling her eyes. She’d wanted a bigger part.

Sandy glared at her. “Well, Chris said he’s scared of being mocked, or even worse, turned down. But apparently all he thinks about is Jared.”

“It’s pretty obvious why Jensen doesn’t say anything.” Gen pointed out. Over her hip, the top of Jared’s head came into view. He was paying pretty close attention. “Jared would mock him mercilessly if he was to tell him he’s in love with him.”

There was a muffled curse from Jared’s position. Sandy had to stuff her hand into her mouth to prevent herself from laughing. She kicked at Alona.

“Are you sure he’s in love?” Alona asked, holding herself tight and not making eye contact. Her shaking shoulders gave away how close to laughter she was.

Sandy had tears starting to leak from the corners of her eyes, but she kept her voice even and calm. “Chris says he is. Jensen even apparently wrote a song that’s all about Jared and his hidden love.”

The bell rang distantly. Genevieve clambered to her feet. Time to deliver the piece de resistance. “So do we tell Jared?”

The others all followed her to their feet. Sophia had one more rehearsed line to deliver. She struck a thoughtful pose, eyes searching the horizon vaguely, avoiding looking at any of the others in case her composure was to slip. “We can’t. We don’t know what Jared will do. Jensen will just have to suffer, I guess, and hope it goes away. Jared can be really cruel sometimes.”

There was another muffled shout from Jared’s position. Sandy flashed the thumbs up. “We better run. Mason’ll kill me if I’m late again.”

Jared had the same class, but he didn’t make a move.

 

Chris was even more direct. He didn’t wait for Jensen to be hiding anywhere or anything. Instead he just started the conversation in the cafeteria while Jensen was collecting food. “Jensen is such an idiot.”

At the sound of his name, Jensen ducked behind a pillar to listen.

“The fuck Jared’s up to. Sandy says he’s totally lovesick.” Chris sucked down a couple more fries.

Steve gave him a glare before shaking his head and joining the conversation. “Jared was always going to fall hard, one day. Shame it’s for Jensen.” He was a little wooden in his delivery but it looked like Jensen didn’t notice, considering the expression of intense thought on his face.

Mike and Tom exchanged evil grins. Matching evil grins. There was a quick raised eyebrow conversation before Chris kicked Mike in the shins.

“He’s apparently decided that he’s not going to let Jensen know, though. I don’t get that.” Mike returned the kick.

“And Jensen would be nice? You know he hates Jared,” Chris shot back, glaring.

Tom tapped the table. “He doesn’t hate Jared. He’s just prickly.” The bell interrupted him. Steve let out a sigh of relief as they scraped their chairs back. Chris pretended to do a double take as he came around the pillar and saw Jensen lurking there.

“Hey, man.” He was all casual and confident and totally ignored the rather wild look in Jensen’s eyes. “Did you grab lunch?”

“Yeah. Practice.” Jensen nodded his head. Then he turned and walked away from the guys, in the opposite direction to the locker room. They watched him go.

Mike actually rubbed his hands together. “I think he got the message.”

The Christmas vacation came and went all too quickly. For a group of friends who were as used to spending time in each other’s’ pockets most of the time when school was in, it was weird how little they saw of each other during vacation time. Family visits and obligations, lack of transport, sleep to catch up on, made it impossible for them to actually see each other face to face.

But on the return to school, it was clear something had changed. Chris and Sandy were dating pretty seriously, making out, meeting up between classes and the two groups of friends ended up becoming more of a single group. Drama club had an extra few stagehands and soccer practice had its cheer squad doing homework in the bleachers.

And no matter how much time they spent in each other’s orbit, neither Jared nor Jensen as much as breathed one uncivil word in the other’s direction. The cordial impasse was disconcerting, a little freaky and something the girls cooed over whenever they got together.

The grass at the back of the library building was reserved for stoners, until cold weather drove them to more sheltered pitches. There were two windows in the library that overlooked the spare patch of grass, two windows that the group supposedly studying that period were currently gathered around, voices low so as not to attract any authoritarian attention.

Jared was sitting on the grass, arms folded over bent knees, chin resting on his arms and eyes fixed on the fence in the distance. And Jensen had just come around the corner.

There was a moment’s hesitation before Jensen crossed onto the grass and sat down beside Jared, mimicking his pose. He was too close to be casual, shoulder nearly brushing Jared. He was saying something, something a little shocking judging by the way Jared’s head shot up, eyes a little wild, as he stared at Jensen. Jensen shrugged, dragging his head back to rest on his arms.

Jared stared at him some more, his expression shifting through shock, to a sudden frown, a wide grin, something softer. He leaned close, spoke and the group spying through the windows scrutinised the way their heads come closer. Any pretence of space vanished when Jared shuffled across the final inches between them, placing a gentle hand at the base of Jensen’s spine. The girls let out a contented sigh, practically in unison, as Jensen cupped Jared’s cheek, using it to tilt Jared’s face up for a kiss.

The boys stopped watching them, turning back to their open folders and textbooks. The girls stayed at the window a little longer, drifting away one by one, successive faces blushing. When Jared and Jensen met them in the canteen, red points of colour were painted on their cheeks and the others watched in amusement as they pretended not to be watching each other through the hustle and bustle of lunch.

 

****

Chad had to break for a drink. It was time to seal the deal. Hook the audience completely. Time for the disruption. “So everything’s going fine, right? Love is all around. Just in time for Valentine’s Day. Or so we thought. That’s where Katie comes in.”

“Who’s Katie?” a blonde girl, top hanging off one shoulder in quite a provocative manner asked.

Chad pretended to be looking significantly in her direction while he scoped out her rack. “She’s our villain…”

****

The Valentine’s Day Dance was a major social event. The final one before Prom pretty much. SAT tests and finals and senior show and college applications were all looming, so this was the chance to relax and enjoy the whole Senior thing. Especially when the dance was organised and run by the Juniors. All they had to do was show up.

And rent tuxes and buy dresses and all the rest.

The dance was in full swing and everyone was enjoying watching Jared and Jensen pretend not to like each other. They kept catching them staring, however. The music was loud, the gym – well, there wasn’t really any way of making the gym look less gym like, but it was a little prettier than normal. The dark helped, as did the flashing lights. People were dancing and chatting and looking happy.

It was when the girls were at the bathroom that Chris’ phone buzzed, rapidly followed by Tom’s and Jensen’s. They hauled them out of their pockets and stood, puzzled. A message from an unknown number. Chris opened it.

There was a video attached. A video taken at the dance, taken only moments before, judging by the music in the background. It was short, no more than ten seconds, but in that time Chris’ world fell apart. The guy in the video had his arms around a dark haired girl, his lips biting down her neck, and the name he whispered out was Sandy. It was clear over the music.

Silence fell. No one could meet anyone else’s eyes. Then it all went to pieces.

The girls came back, in a giggling mass, Jared towering above them. Chris turned to Sandy, mouth fixed in a narrow line. Sandy’s smile froze, faltered, fell. The music cut off and all around them people were pulling out their phones to stare at the same video.

“I thought you were… But…” Chris barely contained his fury. Then he hissed, right in Sandy’s face. “I could never date a slut.”

It was as if everyone took in a simultaneous breath. Sandy straightened her back, raised her eyes and calmly slapped Chris across the cheek. His fists tightened, once, before he shook his head and stormed out of the dance, Tom, Mike and Steve at his heels.

Sandy’s calm demeanour lasted for the time it took for Chris to vanish out of sight. She looked around, startled, as Jensen offered her his phone. Her friends crowded around the tiny flickering screen, eyes wide.

“It’s not me.” Sandy’s voice trembled. “It’s… You know. You were with me.”

Gen leaned over and placed her arm around Sandy’s shoulders, holding her tenderly. The out of character action shocked the rest of the group into action.

Jared let the girls crowd in around Sandy, murmuring words of comfort and offering hugs. He was furious - furious at Chris, at whoever had sent the video, at Tom and Mike for siding with Chris. His hands shook. He wanted to hit someone, anything.

Suddenly Jensen was there, dragging him to a seat. “Hey man, you okay.”

They were isolated, unnoticed, a little apart for the others. Jared looked into Jensen’s eyes, seeing the sincerity of his concern, and let himself be drawn into a hug. “It’s just…”

“I know.” They sat with their arms around each other for a moment.

“Why aren’t you with them?” Jared asked, suddenly. “They’re your friends.”

“Yeah,” Jensen said. Then he swallowed. “But you’re my boyfriend.”

Jared seemed to consider this for longer than he really should need to, for Jensen’s peace of mind.

“Boyfriend?” Jensen wasn’t sure if it was a question for him or for Jared himself. He held himself back from demanding to know what else Jared thought the making out and spending lots of time with each other meant. Jared nodded, emphatically, and the band tightening around Jensen’s heart eased.

Jared leaned back into the circle of Jensen’s arms and looked across to see Sandy collapsing fully into heart-wrenching sobs. “I want you to beat Chris.”

Jensen blinked slowly. “What?”

“Beat him. Hit him. Take a baseball bat to him.” Jared spoke fiercely. “I want him to hurt just as much as he hurt Sandy.”

Jensen thought for a moment, before looking back down at Jared, who stared at him dispassionately. Jensen shook his head, to clear it as much as to say no.

“If you ever want to make out with me again- If you have any feelings for me-“ Jared couldn’t finish the threat.

Jensen nodded, firmly, once. “I’ll do it. I’ll do it tomorrow.”

Jared pulled Jensen into a brief kiss, a mash of lips rather than anything like the kisses they’d traded before. Then they clung to each other as they watched Sandy’s heart shatter into a million pieces.

***

“I thought you said this was where you came in.” The girl looked ready to leave.

“It is.”

***

Later that night, Chad was hanging out under the bleachers, waiting for his ride home. He slunk into the shadows when the sound of feet rattled the metal seating.

“Did you see Sandy’s face?” crowed a most triumphant Katie. Her minions hooted their amusement at her. “And the way Chris stormed out? Priceless.”

“I can’t believe you managed to pull that off, faking that video like that.” Katie’s friend was full of admiration.

Katie let out a nasty laugh that could perhaps be described as maniacal. “Yeah, well, wasn’t hard. Turns out you can do great things with Photoshop.” There was a clink of bottles and the sounds of gulping and conversation halted.

Chad waited until they had stomped off before creeping out to find the car park near empty. “Oh boy,” he breathed out.

 

The atmosphere at school was tense. Any one not already aware of what had happened was quickly filled in by any number of eager volunteers. The video seemed to have circulated around the entire student body overnight.

Jensen paced the narrow hallway in front of the lockers. Eventually, Chris showed up, dark shadows under his eyes. Jensen and he squared off, resolute, before Mike stepped in between them.

“Listen. You guys are friends. You can’t…” The warning bell rang.

“After school?” Jensen’s voice was a study in politeness. Chris nodded, curtly, and strode off to his first class. Jensen leaned back against the lockers.

Tom joined him. “What’s this all about?”

“I can’t believe Chris would do that to Sandy.” Jensen pulled the books he needed from his locker before heading off to class. He totally missed the concerned look Tom shot him.

***

“So you know it was all a fake, right?” The girl asking had obviously enjoyed quite a few of the pink cocktails she held unsteadily. Chad could take advantage of that.

“Yeah. But I had to make my approach as dramatic as possible.”

***

Sandy wasn’t in school that day. Just as well, as every conversation seemed to be about the events of the dance, even among the staff. How they missed the rumoured fight, no one knew. But when the final bell went, there was a substantial crowd circling around the football pitch. Jensen strode out into the middle of the grass and waited.

An excited muttering went up when Chris came closer, pushing his way through the crowd. He brushed off Steve’s restraining hand and came to stand toe to toe with Jensen. Jensen looked over his shoulder, eyes meeting Jared’s for a brief instant before cocking his fist and driving it square into Chris’ jaw. Chris stumbled back a few steps before shaking off the shock and bracing himself to drive forward. Jensen looked a little shocked, as if he hadn’t expected the punch to connect. But before Chris could launch himself into the attack, a shout came from the crowd.

“Stop! Stop! It’s all a trick.”

Jensen met Chris’ eyes and nodded, stepping back as a blond kid ran onto the pitch. He was winded and panting as he flung himself between them and bent near in half to catch his breath.

The crowd tightened up, even more interested. Jared, Gen and Sophia came forward, meeting Tom, Mike and Steve and they formed a rough circle around the combatants and the bizarre figure of the scarlet faced boy.

“Had to leave detention,” he panted out. “But it was a trick.”

“What was a trick?” Jensen asked, tone betraying his barely restrained anger.

“Katie said it was a fake. The video. Just a trick.” Between his desperate breaths, they could just make out his words. The word spread through the crowd like wildfire. There was a struggle over one side of the group before another boy was pushed into the centre. Mark, Katie’s henchman, attempted straightening his shoulders and fixing an innocent expression on his face before the entire act crumpled.

“He’s telling the truth.” Mark looked from face to face, trying to judge potential sympathy. He found none. “She faked it all.”

“But the phone message? It looked real.” Chris’ face was a picture of misery, eyes suspiciously glossy.

“She got the numbers from the team roster. And… well. I helped her with the editing.” Mark shrugged his shoulders, throwing off the weight of the confession. An excited buzz rose from the crowd, though when they realised there wasn’t going to be any more punching, the rough circle dispersed, leaving the subdued group in the middle.

“Fuck.” Chris sat down on the grass heavily. Then he raised his hand to his cheek. “And ow.”

“Sorry about that,” Jensen said, before joining him on the grass. “We should have suspected something like this. Katie’s always had it in for Sandy, ever since sixth grade.” The others nodded. “So, how’re we going to help you get her back?”

The rest of the group sat down in various attitudes of contemplation. No one felt too comfortable making eye contact right at that moment.

 

Sandy was back in school after the weekend. She wore black and tried to fade into the background. The effect was rather spoiled by the way Chris waited in front of her locker with a huge bouquet of flowers.

Sandy took one look at them and walked away.

Chris tried again, with candy and apologies and cards. He waited, every morning, ignoring the pitying then contemptuous glances from the other kids passing him by. He looked a little more down-heartened every morning as he stood there, ignored. But he persisted.

One week, three boxes of chocolates, two bouquets and a mix CD later, Sandy walked up to Chris of her own accord. “You really hurt me.”

“I’m an idiot.” Chris handed over the candy. “I’m sorry.”

Sandy took his chin in her hand and turned it side to side, looking at the nearly faded bruises from Jensen’s punch. Then she pulled him close, kissed the last of the marks gently. “I forgive you.”

 

The cafeteria table buzzed as Chris and Sandy joined them, fifteen minutes after the bell had rang. There was an exchange of knowing glances, raised eyebrows and sappy smiles before the groups rearranged themselves to make room.

Mike threw out his arms. “Senior year. Totally awesome?”

Sandy leaned into Chris and smiled, half sad. “Guess we’re all growing up a little too.”

There was silence at that. Then Mike let out a hoot of laughter. “Everyone but that pair.” He pointed at Jared and Jensen, who were studiously staring at their food, the ceiling, everyone else and definitely, definitively, not looking at each other. “We know you hooked up.”

“What?” Jared asked, tugging up the collar of his shirt to hide the lovebite purpling royally on his throat. “No. Never. I hate him.”

“I hate him too,” Jensen added. “Totally.”

As if in sync, Genevieve and Steve placed two objects on the table: Jared’s Chem notebook and a sheet of scribbled lyrics.

“Who is Mr Jared Ackles-Padalecki then?” Genevieve managed to get it out with a straight face. “And why does he have little love hearts surrounding his name?”

Steve wasn’t quite as controlled as he choked out, “I want to tangle my fingers in your shiny chestnut mane/And staring in your eyes no longer gives me pain.” There was a round of suppressed sniggers. “I’m not quite sure who those lyrics are aimed at, Jen? Could you find a rhyme for Jared?”

Jared was staring agape at them while Jensen was blushing bright red. Then he seemed to recover the power of speech, shrugged, and looked at Jared. “Guess we kinda opened ourselves up to that one.”

“It’s like our own subconsciouses are working against us,” Jared agreed. He looked at the suddenly interested crowd. “It’s like staring into the sun, you know. His lips…” There was a chorus of groans. Jared grinned wickedly.

Jensen nonchalantly leaned across the table and placed a smacking kiss on Jared’s lips when Jared turned to look at him. The kiss became a little more serious, despite the awkward angle, deepening when Jared parted his lips.

Tom groaned when they finally broke apart and Jensen sat down again. “Is everyone getting together?”

“Best way to be happy, man,” Jensen shot at him. “Best way.”

“There better not be a comment about mutual orgasms coming my way,” Mike shot back, before realising what he’s said.

Jared crooked his head in the direction of the doorway through to the main part of the school. “Talking of coming…?”

Jensen stood up, hastily, leaving his lunch half eaten. “The supply closet’s going to be free now.”

They quite happy flipped the bird to the rest of the group as they headed through the door, hand in hand.

******

Jensen slung his arm around Jared’s shoulders, pulling him close and placing a kiss at his temple. “Guess the whole ‘stop fucking and come out and party’ thing failed.”

Jared’s lips were deliciously kiss plump. He grinned, happily, turning to kiss Jensen once more. “Can we go home and start actually fucking?” He paused, looking over at the bar where a group of girls surrounded a blonde guy. They had been watching him and Jensen pretty much all night. “Do we know that guy?”

Jensen lifted his head from where it had been resting against Jared’s shoulder. His hair was mussed from the way Jared had mauled it with his hands. “Didn’t he go to high school with us?” Jensen dismissed them, grabbing Jared and hauling him towards the exit. “Doesn’t matter. We got something better to be doing.”

They left, side by side, arms around each other, slipping away from the bustle of the party, oblivious to the amused stares of their group of friends.

*****

The story told, the girls began to drift away, in pairs and threes, nothing remaining to hold their interest, until there was only one girl still there. Sophia cocked her head. “That’s not exactly how it happened.”

The Chad shrugged. His plan wasn’t exactly fool-proof but he’d got the girl he was after where he wanted her after all. “Why don’t you come here and correct me, then?”

Sophia laughed, ducking her head. Then she came close, closer than any of the girls had been before. Chad felt his breath stutter to a near stop as Sophia came even nearer. He pursed his lips in anticipation. Sophia waited a moment longer before crossing the final few breaths and kissing him. Chad kissed back when she wrapped her arms around him and just held on for the ride.


End file.
